Poilievre’s Youth: Meet the young voters supporting the Conservatives
Global News
The Conservatives are polling unusually strong with young Canadians. Supporters say it’s because he’s mirroring their frustration with the status quo.
Thirty years ago, a mantra for the U.S. Democrats ran “it’s the economy, stupid.”
Three decades later, that same energy has been captured by a Canadian politician that nobody would mistake for Bill Clinton.
The Millennial and Gen Y Canadians who will vote for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre – potentially for the first time, or their first time voting for the Conservatives – are angry. They’re angry about the cost of living. They’re angry about housing. And they’re angry that their quality of life is likely to be worse than their Boomer and Gen X parents.
And in Poilievre they’ve found an outlet.
March 10 numbers from Abacus Data put the Conservatives ahead among 18 to 29-year-olds, with 36 per cent support, 27 per cent for the NDP and just 19 per cent for Trudeau’s Liberals. Abacus’ numbers for the 30 to 44-year-old set – the elder Millennials and young Gen X’ers – are even more stark, with the Conservatives enjoying 43 per cent support to the Liberals’ 23 per cent.
The trendline among younger voters mirrors the overall gravitation to the Conservatives in national polling. But anecdotally, you can see it at Poilievre’s rallies. The crowds skew younger than the people who turned out for events under previous Conservative leaders Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole.
Global News reached out to more than 60 Conservative riding associations across the country, asking to meet first-time Conservative voters who were drawn to Poilievre’s message. The intent was to understand what is attracting young voters to the Conservative Party, not traditionally a home for young Canadians, but in the year and a half since Poilievre’s leadership victory has become a vehicle for the rejection of the status quo.
Based on those conversations, it seems the appeal is not so much that these voters put a lot of faith in Poilievre’s specific policy proposals. It’s that they see him as an avatar for their dejection, and their rejection of the establishment.
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